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A circus camel is led from an overturned trailer on Interstate 516 to be transported away from the accident site. (Dash Coleman/Savannah Morning News)

The driver of a truck hauling a trailer full of circus animals lost control at Interstate 516 eastbound and Veterans Parkway on Monday afternoon. The truck came to rest upright atop a guardrail while the trailer containing animals rolled on its side in the roadway. (Dash Coleman/Savannah Morning News)

Firefighters with Savannah Fire & Emergency Services used the Jaws of Life and an o-cutter to dismantle partitions in an overturned trailer on Interstate 516 on Monday. It was necessary to remove the partitions to safely lead the remaining animals from the trailer. (Dash Coleman/Savannah Morning News)

Part of Interstate 516 was closed to motorists for several hours Monday after a trailer full of circus animals overturned when the truck hauling it crashed.

Shortly after 4 p.m., said Savannah-Chatham police spokesman Julian Miller, the driver of the truck lost control of the semitrailer at I-516 eastbound and Veterans Parkway, striking a sign and guard rail, then spinning into the middle of the road on I-516. The cab came to rest upright atop a guardrail, but the trailer detached and landed on its side across the roadway.

None of the eight animals — camels, llamas, ponies and zebras — or the driver were seriously injured in the accident, Miller said. Southside EMS treated the nose of one llama and the foot of another, he said.

Savannah-Chatham police re-routed eastbound I-516 traffic onto Veterans Parkway while the effort to right the trailer and clear the road was under way. A second trailer was brought to the scene so the animals could be taken from the overturned trailer and driven away.

Savannah Fire & Emergency Services was called to the accident after it became apparent that some of the animals, while reportedly uninjured, could not be safely removed from the overturned trailer due to obstructions caused by metal partitions.

Firefighters used the Jaws of Life and an O-cutter to dismantle the partitions so the remaining animals could be led to safety. The first group of animals led from the overturned trailer was driven away while firefighters cleared the path for the rest.

“We’re using the same tools we normally use to get someone extricated from an automobile to get the animals out,” said Savannah Fire Battalion Chief Dennis Cook.

Cook said the handlers told firefighters that the animals were used to noise, so that taking them out onto the roadway would not be an issue.

The animals were reportedly being brought to Savannah for the UniverSoul Circus, being held Wednesday through Sunday at the National Guard Armory.

After the accident, the truck had a small diesel leak, but Cook said it was quickly stopped.

Miller said police charged the truck’s driver, Michael K. Ramos of Riverview, Fla., with driving too fast for conditions and failure to maintain lane. Georgia State Patrol also charged Ramos with having an improper class license, Miller said.

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP BUTLER, Okinawa, Japan — Marine Corps Captain James E. Frederick, who ejected from a Marine F/A-18 on Dec. 7, was pronounced dead after his body was found during search and rescue operations.